1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a plurality of electronic multilayer components, each of which comprises alternately stacked electrically conductive and electrically insulating layers, the electrically conductive layers being electrically connected in a periodically alternate arrangement to substantially opposite edges of the multilayer component. Such components may receive application as multilayer capacitors or multilayer actuators, for example.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A method as described in the opening paragraph is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,326,718, in which layers of electrically conductive and electrically insulating material are alternately deposited onto a flat substrate through an apertured mask, the planes of the substrate and mask being mutually parallel. In the case of the insulating material, the depository flux is directed at right angles to the plane of the mask, so that it passes through the aperture in a perpendicular direction. However, in the case of the conductive material, the depository flux is directed through the aperture at a non-perpendicular angle .alpha. with respect to the substrate surface. Moreover, although consecutive conductive layers are deposited using the same value of .alpha., the depository fluxes for such consecutive layers are not mutually parallel, but instead arise from sources located at diametrically opposite sides of the aperture. As a result, consecutive conductive layers demonstrate only a partial mutual overlap, as illustrated in FIG. 2 of the cited U.S. patent. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 4 of that patent, conductive layers (56, 56') having an odd ordinal number make mutual electrical contact at one side (62) of the component, and conductive layers (68, 68') having an even ordinal number make mutual electrical contact at an other side (76) of the component.
The known method has a number of disadvantages. In particular, the number of conductive layers which can be deposited in this manner is severely limited. This is because, as the stack of layers on the substrate increases in height, that stack will itself begin to partially eclipse the depository fluxes of conductive material, and will eventually prevent the desired mutual contact of every second conductive layer at the edge of the component. In addition, material from the depository fluxes will accumulate on the apertured mask, and particularly along the edges of the apertures, causing a relatively rapid deterioration in mask definition. This is a particular problem when manufacturing large numbers of very small components (lateral dimensions of the order of 1 mm) on a large wafer, since the dimensional deterioration in the apertures may then constitute a substantial fraction of the component's lateral dimensions. In such cases, regular replacement of the mask will be required.